Monday Musing
[ Asok Pillai ]
Jeremy has spoken
On balance, envy is often mixed with admiration and inspiration, but jealousy? That, my friend, is a self-destructive emotion. My advice: don’t nurse it, for it’ll hurt you the most. Thank god for what you have and don’t worry about what others do, be it fame, riches, looks, or talent. Have faith in yourself. Don’t burn up like rocket fuel just because you cannot possess what someone else has. Everyone has their plus points and drawbacks. There’s nothing we can do about it. Such is life. Amen.
In my feelings
Speaking from experience, the best way to develop your body and mind is by doing yoga.
Not pranayama, or meditation – any random politician these days will tell you that they do pranayama – but pure physical yoga, breathing through the nose, free-flowing through the bodily exertions…. Yoga makes you better from the inside out from head to toe.
I used to be a bodybuilder in my younger days. If you don’t believe me, ask my cousin Dodum Yangfo, aka ‘Dragon Slayer’, the chief editor of The Dawnlit Post.
Meaning that I know bodybuilding from yoga.
Bodybuilding requires aggression. Yoga requires composure. Choose one, or do both. You’ll become a better person either way. Guaranteed.
I have, over the months, devised a bespoke 45-minute workout – a mix of yoga (50 percent), ballet exercise (40 percent) and callisthenics (10 percent) – which works out my entire body. At my age, being physically nimble is a priority. The advantage of this workout is that one doesn’t need a gym, or equipment, or even a mat to do it.
I have incorporated yoga as an integral part of my routine not because any political party is patronising it, nor because it is a part of our heritage. I do it because it works. It’s been nearly two years since I introduced yoga into my workout, and it has improved my game with every passing month.
Once you get past your reservations and commit yourself to it, you would understand that yoga is overrated for a reason.
Love will keep us alive
It’s easy to poke fun at others.
You can poke fun at politicians, bureaucrats, movie stars, and other famous personalities. You can even make jokes about prime ministers past (but not present). But I draw the line at Mahatma Gandhi, for obvious reasons.
Ironically, the BJP, cocky and authoritarian as it is, seems to have hijacked the concepts of Mahatma Gandhi from the Congress party almost entirely. Then again, the only link between Rahul and Mahatma Gandhi is their surname.
I wonder why an idea like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan did not occur to the Gandhi family when the Congress was in power for so long. After all, they are satellite descendants of Mahatma Gandhi, aren’t they? Or were they out of touch with the Mahatma’s ideals all along?
Let’s face it, Sonia Gandhi was obviously not born in the Gandhi family, and nor was Indira Gandhi. She (Indira) was the daughter of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. Both ladies led a party that was corrupt up to its eyes, and that is what helped the BJP juggernaut its way to power in 2014. That, plus the social media campaign. Wah, Modiji, wah! Honestly.
And ever since then, Arunachal has become the Centre’s pet state, based, I gather, on Vastu Shastra. Corruption continues across the country, and everyone is happy like before, but we have some new rules and policies in place now.
If the current trend continues, I pity the coming generations. The evolving system, with its alternative narratives, will narrow down their outlook into myopia. Cosmopolitanism would be dead.
Well, whatever.
I am a patriot, like any good Indian. God forbid, if a war broke out between India and one of its neighbours, I’d be happy to be out there on the frontline, if required. Of course I wish I wouldn’t be required, because I am a coward.
Secondly, I have a global outlook. I don’t believe in borders – free as a bird, rivers, and gusts of wind. As Bruce Lee said, under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.
